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Eyal Udassin – C4 Security

Generic Electric Grid Malware Design. Eyal Udassin – C4 Security. Contents. Introduction. The Problem – Security by Obscurity. The Solution – Behavioral Attack. Recommendations. About C4. Based in Israel Consists of security experts, reverse engineers and protocol analysts

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Eyal Udassin – C4 Security

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  1. Generic Electric Grid Malware Design Eyal Udassin – C4 Security www.c4-security.com

  2. Contents Introduction The Problem – Security by Obscurity The Solution – Behavioral Attack Recommendations www.c4-security.com

  3. About C4 • Based in Israel • Consists of security experts, reverse engineers and protocol analysts • Provide “red team” penetration tests to utilities, financial institutions and governmental agencies • Our team’s skills enable us to find and exploit vulnerabilities in proprietary systems • Experts in SCADA security • Contact: info@c4-security.com / www.c4-security.com www.c4-security.com

  4. Introduction • Terminology • SCADA – Supervisory Command and Data Acquisition • DCS – Distributed Control Systems • C&C Systems for electricity, water, sewage, gas, oil, trains, petrochemical plants etc. • Energy management systems (EMS) are SCADA systems as they control network nodes dispersed over a large geographical area • These systems bring power to your home www.c4-security.com

  5. Introduction • National infrastructure utilities directly affect the well-being of nations’ civilians, thus it is a prime target for terrorists • The “Holy Grail” for an attacker in the SCADA environment is the Control Center • We strongly believe that in order to thwart such attacks, it is necessary to conduct the same offensive research www.c4-security.com

  6. Typical Control Center Elements www.c4-security.com

  7. Background • 3 Critical vulnerabilities in GE-Fanuc Cimplicity and Proficy were disclosed by us at S4-2008 (including a stable heap overflow) • Even this was the first time that taking control over the SCADA server was demonstrated, there were a few engineers who doubted that it would allow an attacker to cause real damage • Skeptics fuel progress – time for stage II  www.c4-security.com

  8. The Problem The #1 claim from big-scale SCADA operations is: • Even if you assume complete control over our control center – you will not be able to cause substantial physical damage as: 1. You’re not a control engineer, so you wont understand what you’re seeing on the HMI 2. You wont find any documentation on the network to allow you to map the SCADA network addresses and their datapoints to their “meaning” – what they control in the physical world www.c4-security.com

  9. The Problem • Without a mapping of the addresses & datapoints to physical locations and controlled devices, it is very difficult to generate malicious packets • Such a map can usually be found on the operators workstations and the SCADA server as a tag database. Each tag is a user friendly name given to an address/datapoint • “We keep the mapping only in paper copy” etc. • Mmmm… strange, but let’s play along www.c4-security.com

  10. Translation to IT Security Terms • Security by obscurity • To be completely honest – it’s one of the few places where it might actually work! • Two “shortcuts” to beating security by obscurity are missing: • Can’t trigger events • Few (if any) string anchors www.c4-security.com

  11. Translation to IT Security Terms Example packets: • 0a 07 d9 08 3b 92 0b af 00 0b • Trip a breaker (92ob) – address (d9083b) • 0a 08 80 b5 cc 91 01 00 0b • Read generation frequency (9101) on plant #11 – address (80b5cc) www.c4-security.com

  12. The Solution Base assumptions: • The Good • Assumption 1 – Security by obscurity works. We will never know what the data “means” • Already discussed • No “silver bullet” – can’t cause “aurora” style attack as we don’t what kind of generator is used nor where is it located logically • Assumption 2 – Even if we’ll have the map, causing substantial damage is difficult • Complexity – mitigated by getting a control engineer on-board • Safety mechanisms – 3 cases in the past year where these failed due to mechanical or human error www.c4-security.com

  13. Base Assumptions (cont.) • The Bad • Assumption 3 – Control protocols are simple • 95% are Start/Stop, TLV, or fixed size and format • Assumption 4 – We own the communication server (aka FEP) • This is were we left off in our previous research, for more details see: http://www.c4-security.com/SCADA%20Security%20-%20Attack%20Vectors.pdf • The Ugly • Assumption 5 - Humans need more electricity when they are awake www.c4-security.com

  14. Daily Electricity Demand • England www.c4-security.com

  15. Daily Electricity Demand • The Czech Republic www.c4-security.com

  16. Daily Electricity Demand • Scotland www.c4-security.com

  17. Attack Vector • The main goal of the control center is to keep the grid balance - generation should match the demand • From the previous graphs we see that: • In the morning the grid utilization is increased • In the evening it is decreased • How does this work to our advantage? • Let’s turn night into day, and vice versa • No need to know what we’re sending as the operators already took care of that for us www.c4-security.com

  18. Malware Design • Install malware on the comm. Server • Stage I – Learning Mode • Sniff traffic to and from the field (easy to distinguish) • Create request/response pairs with a timestamp for day & night classification • Auto-identify “problematic” fields • CRC/Parity Fields • Timestamps • Counters • Simple statistical computations www.c4-security.com

  19. Malware Design • Stage II – Active mode • When enough packet data is collected, wait for the next critical time of day (dawn, nightfall) • Drop all messages coming from the SCADA server • Instead, sent the commands of the opposite timeframe to the field www.c4-security.com

  20. Malware Design • What will happen in Active Mode? • Example – sunrise time • Electricity demand constantly rises • The field devices will receive night-time command – e.g. “disconnect aux. power plant from the grid” , “lower power output from main power plant” etc. • Operators will try to connect more power plants, without success as the commands are ignored • Network instability – supply will not meet the demand • Potentially causing blackouts • May change electric frequency www.c4-security.com

  21. Advanced Attack Vector • An even nastier approach is to record communication between the comm. server and SCADA server as well • When the systems goes from “learn mode” to “active mode” perform two actions: • Send the control data to the field as previously mentioned • Don’t drop the SCADA server requests, send responses which it expects at this time from the field www.c4-security.com

  22. Advanced Attack Vector • Expected result • Field devices are performing the exact opposite of their required behavior • SCADA operators see that everything is running smoothly www.c4-security.com

  23. Design Advantages • Little to zero knowledge on the network design and implementation is required • One time insertion of the malware, no need for ongoing communications • Physical impact is likely www.c4-security.com

  24. Drawbacks • There are always exceptions • “We sign all messages” - ~<1%, very modern • Unique network architectures • Prior knowledge of the protocols used will greatly increase the chance of impact as the “learn mode” will be well defined • Independent safety controls will alert the operators, and might contain the damage to a certain degree • Looking for guinea pigs! www.c4-security.com

  25. Recommendations • Relax • Not FUD. It’s not going to happen tomorrow • Not to be underestimated though - acknowledged by control center engineers from 3 T&D utilities • The goal is to increase awareness of the importance of securing your SCADA network www.c4-security.com

  26. Recommendations • Several potential mitigations • Strong authentication of messages between the SCADA server and communication server • Field communication solutions • Encrypt or digitally sign messages • Obfuscation with key swap every X days (Rrushi – S4 2007) • Chaffing – switch live/simulation between two FEPs every day • These solutions address the question – “How do I minimize the damage to my assets, even after my control center is compromised?” www.c4-security.com

  27. Summary • Choose your field protocols with security in mind • Asset owners - demand quality software, which undergoes an ongoing assessment of its resilience to attack • And on top of that - prevent control center compromise (assumption #4). Be prepared, audit yourselves! • “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing” Edmund Burke, 1770 www.c4-security.com

  28. Questions? www.c4-security.com

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